Magic can be controversial, though. Not in the sense of US fundamentalists decrying Harry Potter, but in that it sometimes provides a cheap way out of a plot hole. A selection of this seasonâs books pivot on some otherworldly powers, but this is the internally-consistent stuff of fable and legend, not just
deus ex machina hocus pocus.
Efua TraoreÌ, author of Children of the Quicksands. Photograph: Boubacar TraoreÌ
The setup for Kirsty Applebaumâs
of Lonny Quicke (Nosy Crow) is engrossing. Young Lonny is a lifeling, a person who can save dying creatures â moths, rabbits, people â but pays for it with time off his own lifespan.
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